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Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Illusion Meets Reality in the Green Zone

Illusion Meets Reality in the Green Zone

by Paul R. Pillar
The temporary takeover of the Iraqi parliament building and other
facilities in the fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad by followers
of Muqtada al-Sadr was a demonstration not only of current fractures in
Iraqi politics but also of a recurring American misconception about the
application of military force on behalf of political objectives.
Military force is, as Clausewitz teaches us, a tool to be employed on
behalf of political objectives, but the misconceptions begin when faith
is placed in the ability of military force to solve problems that are
still more political than military. The problems continue with the
belief that if such problems are not solved with one level of military
force, more force should turn the trick. Such misconceptions have
prevailed at least three times in American attitudes toward Iraq.
One time was with the invasion that started the mess that has
prevailed in Iraq for the last thirteen years: the grand neoconservative
experiment in trying to inject liberal democracy into Iraq through the
barrel of a gun. The myopia and misconceptions involved in that decision
were so great and the unfavorable outcome so glaring that the general
American consensus has since then become that launching the war was a mistake. But parallel misconceptions have persisted regarding two later chapters in the U.S. effort to deal with the ensuing mess.http://lobelog.com/illusion-meets-reality-in-the-green-zone/#more-34068